A national environmental correspondent during the last decade of her 28 years at The New York Times, Felicity provided an in-depth look at the adoption of AB 32, California’s landmark climate-change bill after covering state’s carbon reduction carbon policies. more »

Pages

Midsummer Heat and Fire – Articles Worth Reading: August 6, 2018

Posted In:

This roundup of journalism about the West’s environment and health usually offers a variety of sources about a variety of subjects from a variety of places. In this midsummer month, we focus on the same subject that many news outlets are covering – the heat and the fires.

How are the Fires Hurting the Air We Breathe? Air quality in parts of the Rocky Mountain states of Idaho, Wyoming and Montana as well as parts of California, Oregon and Washington has got significantly worse, even as the rest of the country has experienced a sharp improvement in air quality, “There’s a big red bullseye over that northern Rockies area where they are getting the big wildfires,” said a co-author of a University of Washington study. The link between the smoke and illness or death is sometimes complicated; smoke exacerbates a range of conditions. No death certificate cites “air pollution” as the cause of death. The smoke from the deadly Ferguson fire near Yosemite (animation) is making Fresno’s air extremely unhealthy. The Guardian/Climate DeskFresno Bee

How Are We Going to Pay for Fighting Fires? Congress just changed the way in which the federal government will pay for large fires, but it may not make a dent in controlling the burgeoning costs of fighting big fires. Fire seasons are longer, and there is more to burn. Climate change, the fire deficit on many western lands and development in the wildland-urban interface ensure that the potential for major fires is baked into the system for decades to come. Scientific American/The Conversation

How Can We Preserve Some of the Forests We Inherited? Without major ecological investments, Arizona risks losing its ponderosa forests in a generation. It's likely too late to save it all, so federal foresters and their allies are racing against the next megafires to choose the places that matter most. Some areas are crucial to the survival of rare birds or the small mammals whose paws scatter the seeds of new forests. Some areas, after fires, could filter ash and debris from water headed for city systems, reducing treatment costs, and preventing post-fire floods. But all this means major investment in thinning trees.“We’re really managing for the future, so we have a forest,” said a silviculturalist for the federal Forest Service. Arizona Republic

What Does it Mean to Live Amid the Heat and Fire? “One truism about the future is that climate change will spare no place. Still, I suspect the threat of warming feels more existential in New Mexico than it does in Minnesota…. The fire risk was so high by June 1 that the U.S. Forest Service closed all 1.6 million acres of the forest to the public. The forecasts for our water supplies are equally grim.…. Staying put may not mean that Colin and I lose what we’ve put into our home, and it may not mean running out of water. But it may mean bearing witness to the slow death of the Rio Grande. It may mean biting our nails every June, hoping this won’t be the year that a mushroom cloud of smoke rises from the Santa Fe Mountains, which are primed for a destructive fire.” High Country News

Submit a Comment

We'd like to know what you think. We will not share your email address or add you to any lists. If you'd like to be notified about new blog posts and news from the Center, you can join our mailing list.

Name *

Email *

Location

Comment or Question *

Publish Name

Please do not publish my name

Email Notifications

Yes, I'd like to be notified when "& the West" has new posts

You will receive emails no more than once a week. We will not share your information.

A Lawsuit Brought Against the Federal Government by the Yurok Tribe Was Blocked when a federal court, which affirmed the government's decision to limit water flows on the Klamath River. Attorneys representing the Yurok had argued that diminished water flows would threaten Coho Salmon habitat near the river’s mouth. The ruling, a blow to Yurok efforts to preserve traditional salmon fishing, comes in the wake of mass fish die-offs due to bacterial infections. E&E News

A Series of Interstate Water Disputes Looms Over the Supreme Court.Texas v. New Mexico, an upcoming case on Pecos River floodwater storage, appears to be the first of a new breed of showdowns over water rights in the West. In the lineup for high court review is a separate case pitting Texas against New Mexico and Colorado over water distribution from the Rio Grande. The impact of climate change is being felt in all the rivers under dispute. E&E News

Bureaucratic Roadblocks Remain an Obstacle to Reparations Claims more than half a century after the end of nuclear testing in the West. Even as the legacy of radiation exposure continues to sicken downwind communities, relief under the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act — which is set to expire in 2022 — remains elusive for Indigenous families, who often lack the formal documents required to apply. High Country News

Lakota Activists Looking Toward the Next Battle to Protect Indigenous Land — in this case against the proposed Dewey-Burdock uranium mine. The Canadian-owned project in South Dakota’s Black Hills has stirred controversy from the start, owing to water-intensive mining practices, and the sacred history of the land it would cover. Activists hope that by continuing to draw out the legal battle over the mine’s permit, they can discourage investors from supporting construction — and set an important precedent for conservation efforts nationwide. Mother Jones

The Southwest Is Suffering From the First Anthropogenic Megadrought on record. The drought, which has ravaged the region for two decades, is the second-worst in the last 1,000 years, according to extensive analysis of tree-ring data. Researchers believe that strict regulations on water usage are a first step towards coping with the crisis, but that without broader efforts to combat climate change, such droughts will become increasingly frequent and intense. The Washington Post

Farmworkers across the West Classified as Essential Workers but excluded them from aid payments. Roughly half of farmworkers are unauthorized and ineligible for stimulus checks; two-thirds remain uninsured even as their employers accept nearly ten billion in stimulus money earmarked for agriculture. The vast majority of ranchers and growers have failed to provide paid sick leave or best practice guidelines for their employees. Reveal News

Biologists Fight Government Efforts to Remove Lynx Protections in the Pacific Northwest. A Washington state survey of lynx populations revealed that habitat destroyed by forest fires in 2018 has yet to be recolonized — and that warming temperatures create a vicious cycle in which that habitat becomes less suitable. Though the exact number of wild lynx in the region remains unknown, researchers believe that southern populations in Colorado, Montana, and Idaho could be wiped out without continued protection. The New York Times

Shale Oil Producers Across the West are Shuttering in the face of plummeting oil prices. A global surplus coupled with non-existent demand has sent crude oil prices to new lows, causing major producers to close fracking installations and sending thousands of family-owned operations into bankruptcy. The Guardian

Billions of Birds Could Die as the Trump administration moves to roll back the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Bipartisan condemnation of the decision — which would reverse a hundred years of regulations — has failed to shake corporate support for the rule change. One industry leader suggested “the birds themselves are the actors.” Associated PressThe Seattle Times

On the Navajo Nation, a Serious Spike in COVID-19 Deaths, as local officials scramble to respond. Authorities have enacted curfews, set up checkpoints, and airlifted medical equipment into rural communities as epidemiologists warn that risk factors — like limited access to running water, the large number of background health conditions, and multigenerational households — could exacerbate the disease’s spread and intensity in the region. The New York Times

Wildlife Is Rebounding in Yosemite amid the park's longest closure in modern history. Animal populations typically relegated to less-trafficked parts of the park are enjoying the lack of visitors, with hotel staff observing large increases in the numbers of bears, bobcats, and other predators. Los Angeles Times

Farm-to-Table Supply Chains Have Come Undone n the wake of the coronavirus’s spread, sowing uncertainty among restaurant owners and farmers alike. Once an obscure pipe dream, the farm-to-table industry generated $12 billion in 2019; now, with restaurant, university, and corporate closures, demand has collapsed, and farmers are struggling to adapt. As individuals become the main supporters of local farms, the increase in labor-intensive packaging and distribution is crushing profits, and leaving some low-skilled workers behind. The New York Times

Arizona Is Sinking thanks to both rising temperatures and the exhaustion of groundwater resources. Scientists at the University of Arizona say that massive subsidence zones — fissures that swallow infrastructure and livestock — are appearing around the state, as hotter air evaporates groundwater and withers plants, making agriculture more water-intensive. And the problem will only get worse: “Even the most moderate warming projection" would cause an annual loss in groundwater volume equivalent to the contents of Lake Powell. High Country News

California Has Approved the Largest Dam Removal Project in history. PacifiCorp, which operates the four dams along the Klamath River that are set for removal, plans to transfer ownership to a nonprofit that will oversee the $450 million project. Local tribes cheered the decision, which ideally will restore the Klamath’s salmon runs. But landowners remain opposed, fearing the removal would lower property values. E&E News

The Economics of California Farming Could Be Upended as the new coronavirus begins to infect farmworkers and continues to shut restaurant customers. One sixth-generation farmer told California’s Public Policy Information Center, “The big concern going forward is the virus going through our workforce. The disruptions of food supply we’re seeing in stores right now is caused by … difficulty keeping shelves stocked. But if there’s disruption on farms—if crops don’t get harvested in time or the logistics for getting food to market go down, that would be much scarier.” PPIC

Sheltering May Affect Wildlife as human-wildlife interactions decrease. Three mountain lions have been spotted in residential neighborhoods in north Boulder, Colorado, causing some surprise. Experts are unsure how quarantine will affect wildlife patterns overall. Boulder Daily Camera

See the most detailed survey ever done of crops and land use in California. It covers nine million acres of land devoted to grapes, alfalfa, cotton, plums, you name it – food for people and animals all over the world.View map »

A look at the energy sources California utilities have used gives us insights into the state’s progress in decarbonizing its electricity supply. In 2015, 35% of total electricity generation (in-state generation plus imported electricity) came from zero-greenhouse-gas sources, which include solar, wind, hydropower, and nuclear.View Graphic »

Conservation easements of various kinds cover more than 22 million acres of land in the United States, according to the National Conservation Easement Database, a public-private partnership. Take a look at our interactive map of nearly every conservation easement, with details on over 130,000 sites.View map »

Desalination – the conversion of saltwater to freshwater – has been limited by high operational costs. A new device capable of turning desalination waste into commercially valuable chemicals could make the process cheaper and more environmentally friendly.